By STEPHANIE MURPHY Daily News Business and Real Estate Writer Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Daily News Photo by Lee Hershfield - Chris Evert smiles Tuesday as she describes the camaraderie of touring to guests at the Women's Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

A "couch conversation" Tuesday at The Mar-a-Lago Club between golf legend Dottie Pepper and tennis icon Chris Evert turned out to be A) hilarious B) meaningful and C) a draw.

NBC Sports commentator Pepper "interviewed" philanthropist Evert during a champagne breakfast for 350 hosted by the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County. It kicks off the LPGA's ADT Championship, being played this week at Trump International Golf Club.

In introducing Evert, Pepper decided "pioneer" was too dated a term; she settled on the synonyms "early, leading, untried and brave" to describe the tennis star's meteoric rise in her teens, her 18 Grand Slam titles and her lock on the No. 1 spot in women's tennis for several consecutive years.

Evert lobbed back, saying she was still "a princess" when Billie Jean King was revolutionizing women's tennis. It was King who had players walk off the court rather than accept less prize money than male players.

King was "the pioneer, the leader who formed the WTA. Until that, women never said 'boo.' Billie Jean had a vision ... to take home more than 10 percent of the men's prize money," Evert said.

Pepper asked Evert about "envy and back-biting" and locker-room paybacks for being a prodigy.

"Yes, women really hated me ... a 16-year-old, up-and-coming, on the cover of Newsweek. Billie Jean was a little bent out of shape for a while," Evert said. "The locker room was not too nice to me. But I'm lucky to be in the generation after" those pioneers.

Ice Maiden 'wasn't like McEnroe'

Pepper segued into how technology has changed the game, with composite materials replacing wooden racquets.

"I look at Serena (Williams), an incredible athlete, all that power," Evert said, adding that tennis has become "a reaction sport, not a thinking sport. I had time to think. ... Now it's reflex."

Evert recalled what her father and coach, Jimmy Evert, taught her.

"Don't show your opponent how you feel ... and you might get two extra points."

Opponents were distracted by Evert's steely concentration, "which worked to my advantage."

She said learning that lesson very young shaped her media image and nicknames: Evert was often called the "Ice Maiden" for her relentless back-court accuracy and lack of emotion.

"I wasn't like John McEnroe, thank God. ... I was more like Pete Sampras," Evert quipped. "And I was criticized for that, too. But it was not in my nature to rant and rave."

Navratilova a rival and a friend

Pepper cited Evert's fierce contests with Martina Navratilova, calling it "the greatest sports rivalry of all time. ... There was an interesting camaraderie, but you did push each other."

The rivalry was "so great because we were so different," Evert said.

Navratilova was a power server and Evert baseline. Navratilova was volatile, Evert calm.

And they drew crowds of fans from both camps.

"(Martina) was better physically in every way, so I had to use my head more," Evert said. "I had to treat every shot like a match point."

Although serious competitors, they also were friends who traveled together and socialized, a rarity among today's stars.

"Nowadays, you have entourages," she said. "The top players don't know each other."

Calls Federer 'a master'

Moving on to men players, Pepper asked what makes Roger Federer great.

"He's a master," Evert said. "It's rare you find someone superb in their mental state and their physical state. In athletics, they're not always together. He's got both."

Pepper asked Evert if, at the top of her game, she could beat Federer.

"Absolutely ... not," Evert said.

As mother, must be 'good planner'

As an international brand, a businesswoman and a mother of three, ages 11, 13 and 16, how does Evert make it all work?

"I have three boys, and they fight all day long, so I don't know if it's working," Evert said. "You have to be a good planner, get their schedules organized. ... I used to be a controller, but you lose it. With three boys, there's no more control."

At the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, the founder stresses fun, she said. Instructors teach kids that "today is not all that matters. ... We look at the whole person. They're not judged on their tennis playing."

Unlike the 1960s, when "tennis and golf were it" in terms of women's professional sports, parents can now interest daughters in lacrosse, soccer and basketball, Evert said.

"Put them in a variety of sports," she said. "That's the way to make them great athletes."

Charity combats drug abuse

Asked about Chris Evert Charities, which raises money to combat drug abuse, she said, "It affects all of us ... a relative, a kid, a friend ... someone is addicted."

Asked about her favorite career highlight, Evert recalled defeating Navratilova in the 1985 French Open, when she was in her 30s.

"People thought I was burned out. ... I proved that any kid with a dream who works hard, is determined and committed, can make it happen," she said.

Judy Dickinson is Pinnacle winner

Another highlight of the breakfast came when ADT spokeswoman Ann Lindstrom introduced honorary chairwoman Judy Dickinson of the LPGA as this year's winner of the Pinnacle Award.

Event hostess Robin Bernstein, of Palm Beach, said Dickinson represented "unyielding leadership and tireless, unwavering support" for the tour.

Dickinson, the widow of veteran golfer Gardner Dickinson, was accompanied by her twin teenage sons. She thanked club owner and grand honorary chairman Donald Trump for hosting the LPGA players at Mar-a-Lago this week.

Then she ribbed him: "By the way, my Barron was first," Dickinson said, pointing to her son, Barron, 17, next to his brother, Spencer.

Trump's youngest son, Barron, will be 2 in March.

IF YOU GO

* What: ADT Championship

* When: Pro-am today; tournament Thursday through Sunday

* Where: Trump International Golf Club, 3505 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach

* Prize money: $1 million to winner; $1.55 million to field

* Tickets: 656-4400